FicWad

Teen Titans season 6: “Return of Slade Part 1”
“It has been 2 years since our journey to Tokyo and our victory over the one called Daizo. That day the greatest thing had happened: Robin and I finally had our first kiss. Ever since, things have been perfect. He proposed to me shortly after and we got wedded. He later went on to call himself “Nightwing”, a perfect, wonderful name. Although we've taken on more members of the team, and still have won our fair share of victories, I wish that we could just, you know, be more like earth people. Maybe sit down and have a family…”

“Beast Boy!”, shouted Nightwing. Beast Boy turned around, holding a book in his hand, looking at his friend and leader, no longer wearing his red and yellow garbs, but wearing a blue and black jumpsuit with long black hair. “What have I told you about reading Starfire’s diary?”. He grabbed the book out of Beast Boy’s hand and started to leave the room. Beast Boy got up and started to follow him. “Sorry, bro! It’s just that, things around here have been getting kind of dull since Tokyo. There haven’t been a lot of enemies to fight, and the ones we’ve fought recently, have been nothing more than low level thugs.” “ That means we've done a pretty good job then,” Nightwing replied. “The criminal element has learned how not to mess with the city anymore so they’re scared.” As the two talked, they walked into the main living quarters where they’re other friends and teammates were hanging out. Cyborg was relaxing on the couch playing video games, Raven and new teammate Wonder Girl were chatting and bonding and Kid Flash was making lunch in the kitchen. Nightwing went over to Wonder Girl and Raven, who were chatting about sorcery and magic. “Hey, guys, have you seen Starfire anywhere?” asked Nightwing. “ She’s on the top of the tower”, said Raven. “She seemed worried about something.” Nightwing frowned. But what, he thought. There Is little crime now, what could be wrong? Nightwing left the room as Beast Boy got on the couch with Cyborg. “Room for another player?” he asked earnestly. Cyborg smiled. He passed the other controller to him. “Gonna kick yo butt man!” He exclaimed. The 2 started slamming thumbs on the controllers.

The air was warm. Too warm. But nothing Starfire wasn’t used to. She was born on a warm planet anyway. But back then, life was so much simpler. Even simpler than her marriage to the human she loves. The world felt so big on the top of the tower yet so small in her heart. Speaking of the human she loves, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find her husband looking down at her. His face looked concerned. “I was told something was up, Starfire. Want to talk?” he asked. She stood up and looked at his eyes. His eyes were soothing to her. “ Robin-opp! I mean Nightwing.. Ever since we got married. I thought we would live like a family.” “ Yeah we are with our family. The titans.” said Nightwing. “No, I mean… a normal family. An earthling family. A normal life.” Nightwing stepped back. He had never really considered that possibility. He had been so used to his duties as leader over the years, he never considered ever leaving his current life for a normal life. The life Bruce had desired but never had. “ Starfire, you realize we have duties as Titans still right?” said Nightwing. “But Nightwing, think about it. The bad guys are minor these days. Not many have threatened the planet. Don’t you think it should be time to do the passings of the torch?”. Nightwing thought about it for a second. The idea did sound nice. But it would need more thinking. “Come,” he said. “Lets talk it over with the others.”






Dr Light hadn’t been to many meetings, if none at all. It was more or less a pleasure. He entered the room in the office building and found what looked like, in his mind, a freakshow. He recognised almost all of them. The H.I.V.E trio Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth, Brother Blood, now a cyborg, Control Freak, looking dorkier than ever, Killer Moth, nothing a fly swatter wouldn’t cure he thought. Also there was, what looked like the titan girl Starfire, except with black hair and silver armouring. “ What is this?” asked Light. “Why have we been brought here?”. “Beats me,” said Blood, looking impatient. Light then turned to the Starfire look alike. “You look familiar. Do you have a connection to a certain young lady named Starfire?” asked Light. The girl smiled. A twinkle sparked in her eyes. She crossed her arms and laughed sarcastically. “My dear earthling. My sister has little to no meaning to me at the moment. I am Blackfire, but I am no titan.”. Light raised an eyebrow suspiscously. “If you are an alien, how have you been contacted here to this meeting?” “I have my ways,” answered a calm menacing voice. The criminals in the room stopped dead in fear. Some heard that voice before, but others were now shocked upon the coldness of the inflection. Suddenly, a monitor at the end of the table turned on and a face was projected. The face was mostly masked in darkness, save for the half that wasn’t decked in black, but an orange tint and a single eyepiece. Gizmo let out a terrified screech and hid behind Jinx. Killer Moth nearly hurled in fear upon the sight. Light, at that moment, knew what they were dealing with: a man known as Slade. “You? You're the one who gathered us here?!” exclaimed Blood. “Who else?” replied Slade. “ It has been too long, friends. 2 years to be exact.”. “Yeah, and where have you been all this time?” asked Jinx, standing up sternly. Slade laughed at the question. “ I've been biding my time, young Jinx. My planning was cunning. 3 years ago, I had assisted the demon Trigon with taking over the world. Our alliance, sadly, ended when he denied me my mortality. Enraged, I assisted with his defeat before going into hiding. That was when things got interesting: I had an ability the Titans need not have known about until the time was right so attacking them outright would have been suicide,”. The villains looked at each other puzzled. “What power are we talking about here?” asked Blood arrogantly. “ All in good time, my friend,” said Slade. “Now where was I? Ahh yes. As a sneak peak of what they were in for I had sent a messenger shortly after their victory over the brotherhood of evil.
I needed 2 years to make them feel comfortable. Feel safe. And then, to finally catch them off guard.”. Blood got up and walked toward the monitor. He was not impressed. “ So, Mr great and powerful, how do you think you can take them down better than us?”. Suddenly, the monitor turned off. Everyone in the room looked confused and started to question what happened. Then the wall on the right side of the room lifted and a man stood next to a camera on a tripod. The man was taller than any of the villains in the room combined. He was wearing silver armor and had the face on the monitor’s orange and black mask. Slade slowly walked up to Blood and then grabbed his neck. Blood gasped for air as he tried to grab Slade’s knuckles off of him. “ You might want to learn some manners, friend,” snarled Slade. He let Blood go on the ground and walked past him. Blood got up and coughed. Slade walked to the front of the room. “ Now, I’ve invited you all here because I’ve figured out why we all have failed against the Titans,”. Gizmo looked puzzled while Blackfire frowned at the remark. Is he serious, she thought. “ All of us have tried to take on the Titans solo. And each time we have lost. Now, since the apprehension of Brain and Mallah, the brotherhood of Evil fell apart. Thus, we shall now make way for our brotherhood. If we are to destroy them, we need to work together.” The room broke into discord. “ No!” yelled Light. “No way! That just gets in the way!” “We tried working for you as a team!” shouted Jinx. “And look how that turned out!” “Silence!” yelled Slade. The whole room stopped arguing and sat in their seats. “ Now then, the titans have beaten us because they are a team, so the best way is to fight fire with fire. After they are defeated, all of you can work solo and continue your petty squabbles in the world. Until then, you have an opportunity you can’t pass up.” The villains all looked intrigued by this. Behind the mask, Slade smiled. “Now who’s in?”


Nightwing came into the room accompanied by Starfire. It was time to make the announcement. “ Titans! Assemble! I have an announcement!” he shouted. The titans filed into the room and sat down wherever there was a seat. Beast Boy looked nervous. Cyborg was concerned. “What is this about?” asked Cyborg. Nightwing breathed. He was nervous. He then felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He turned to see it belonged to a supporting, smiling Starfire. Nightwing got it over with. “ Me and Starfire have been thinking. Since we’ve been married, we were thinking about maybe leaving the team to start a life together and pass on the torch. Any questions?” He took a breath. That was hard to say. Cyborg raised his hand first. Robin pointed to him and Cyborg got up. “Yeah, I got a question. Do we get a say in this?” “What do you mean?” Cyborg walked up to Nightwing. “You’re leaving the team. If we are a team could we at least have a choice on the hand?” “Cyborg, listen…” “No you LISTEN!” shouted Cyborg. Everyone was stunned in awe from Cyborg’s fury. “We have been doing almost nothing for months, put everything on the line for the world, and now you just want to abandon everything we worked for?!” “Cyborg it’s not like that! We just want some time to ourselves” “While the world burns in flames while you are having your perfect life?!” He storms out of the room in anger. Everyone looks shocked. Beast boy gets up. “Cyborg, wait buddy!” He runs after his friend. Nightwing looked shocked upon seeing Cyborg's reaction. “Well that went well,” he said. Starfire looked concerned over the whole thing. Kid Flash raised his hand in earnest. “Yes, Kid Flash?” said Robin. “If you quit, can I get the leader position?” Before Nightwing could turn him down, the alarm started to ring, signaling an emergency in the city. “We’ll discuss this later,” said Nightwing. “We have to get to work now. Titans Go!” and the group charges out of the building.

The titans arrived to find a bank being not robbed, surprisingly, but being destroyed. Then out of the smoke came Dr. Light, Blackfire, and Killer moth. Light sprayed photokinetic bolts of deadly night out of his hands, Blackfire’s black bolts attacking everything in sight, and Moth blasting the citizens with his laser blaster. Nightwing was the first to speak. “Light, this is the last bank you will rob!” Light just smiled and he sent a bolt of light at him and the team. They jumped out of the way of the blast. Starfire attempted to charge at Light from the air, but Blackfire rammed herself into her sister, then tossed her into the ground. “ Well, sister. We meet once more. Been a while.” taunted Blackfire. Starfire frowned and charged back at Blackfire. Meanwhile, Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were dealing with Light while Raven, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash were tackling Killer Moth. Beast Boy turned into a bear and tried to maul Light, but Moth, while struggling with Kid Flash, blasted his laser gun at Beast Boy, knocking him out. Cyborg attempted to use his arm cannon to blast Light but at that moment, Blackfire had thrown Starfire into Cyborg and Nightwing, taking them out for the count. Moth had just defeated Kid-Flash when he then turned his attention towards Raven and Wonder Girl. “Wonder Girl, toss the lasso on him!” said Raven. Wonder Girl compiled and tossed it around Moth. “Ok, do your thing, Raven!”. Raven lifted her hands in the air as her person turned black. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” she bellowed as black bolts emerged from her hands and chased towards Moth. Suddenly, Blackfire flew in and deflected the bolts back into Raven while Moth shacked Wonder Girl off him, knocking them both down. As the group lay on the ground from their beatings, the 3 villains gather up to mock the heroes. “ You thought you had a chance didn’t you?” gloated Light. “But now that the Brotherhood of Evil has reformed, we now have the upper hand!” The 3 walk away laughing in unison..

“We totally got our butts kicked!” pouted Beast Boy . The team had just returned home from the fight, having been defeated. No one looked happy. “Since when have those guys wanted to team up?” said Raven. “I don’t know.” answered Nightwing. Cyborg came out of his room with his arm displaying a hologram of police reports. “Cyborg, anything?” asked Nightwing earnestly. “According to the reports, Brain is still frozen within police headquarters, and Mallah, Madame Rogue and the others are still locked up. So what I’m saying is this isn’t the same brotherhood we fought before.” Nightwing cocked his head. “Are there any of our former enemies aside from Light, Moth and Blackfire that’s not in jail?” Cyborg typed on his wrist device projecting a list of released criminals. “Aside from Light and Moth, Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth, Blood and Control Freak are also out in the open.” Nightwing pounded his fist. “Great, now we just need to track them down and find out their game”. Cyborg then started to walk back to his room. “Wait, where are you going?” asked Starfire curiously. Cyborg turned towards them angrily. “You know why.” Kid Flash chuckled. Then he speeded up to Cyborg leaning his arm on him. “Oh c’mon, sourpuss! One less thing to worry about around here right?”. Beast Boy slapped his hand on his face in annoyance. Cyborg then angrily wacked Kid Flash across the room and went to his bed room. Wonder Girl and Raven go to attend Kid-Flash while Beast Boy goes after Cyborg. “Dude, why’d you do that?!” asked Beast Boy angrily. Nightwing attempted to go with Beast Boy but Starfire then put her hand on him. “Maybe we should discuss this ourselves too.”


The 3 had arrived back from battle. Light, Blackfire and Moth high fived each other as they approached Slade in his personal chambers. Slade was standing in front of a computer monitor that projected data files on each of the titans. “Is the deed done?” he asked. Light stepped forward to announce the good news. “We successfully defeated them, Slade. I guess you were right: teamwork does work well in combat.” “It sure does!” exclaimed Blackfire. “We showed my sister and her pathetic friends the power of pain!”. She and light fist bumped each other happily. Slade turned to face them. “Did you get the word out to them about our Brotherhood?” he asked. “ Sure did” replied Moth. Slade walked closer to them. The 3 stood frightened at what he was thinking now. Did they screw up? Was he mad? But Slade simply said “ You did well. Their defeat today was just an appetizer. Tonight, we shall serve them the main course. Get me Control Freak. I am in need of his assistance.” The 3 ran off to complete his task. Brother Blood then came out of the shadows. Slade darted his eye toward him. “Is there something I can help you with, Blood?” he asked. Blood stepped closer to Slade. “I’ll agree with your alliance on one condition.” Slade turned around to face Blood. “And that is?”. “I want a chance at the robot.” Slade thought about it for a moment. Then he extended his hand toward Blood. “Deal.” he said. They shook hands.


It had been a while since Cyborg brooded in anger. It didn’t feel good. But it had to be done sometimes. This could be the end, he thought. His friend and team leader is leaving him and everything they stood for. The door opened and he saw Beast Boy enter. Beast Boy had a look of both anger and concern on his face, regarding his recent behavior. “ Dude what the heck was that? You just lost your temper and hurt our friend!” “I don’t want to talk right now, dude” mumbled Cyborg. Beast Boy jumped on the bed and sat next to his friend. “What’s the big deal about Nightwing and Starfire leaving? I mean, they’ve been all over each other for years and we’ve probably figured that this would happen eventually. What’s the prob?” Cyborg sighed. He didn’t know what to say. Eventually he got it out. “ I know they love each other and want to have a life, but where does that leave us? Before this, I was nothing more than just a monster. A freak no one would ever want. And then I had you guys. A family.” He then started to shed a tear. Beast boy put his arm around his friend in comfort. Cyborg looked at him and smiled. “If it makes you feel any better, if they leave, I’d nominate you as leader.”


In the living quarters, Raven and Wonder Girl were tending to Kid Flash after he had gotten thrown by Cyborg. Wonder Girl slouched on the couch. “So, we're gonna discuss it?” “Discuss what?” asked Raven as she padded Kid Flash with a towel. “You know? Nightwing and Starfire?” Raven sighed. “Look it’s not up to us, Donna. It’s their lives and if they wanna leave, they’ll leave.” “Ok, but, I don’t know. I've just been a part of this team for like 2 months now, and it’s just weird that they are leaving.” Raven put her hand on Wonder Girl’s shoulders as a sign of comfort. “ It’ll be ok. Things like this happen a lot. Our team will still be together.” The 2 then hugged.


Starfire sat on the bed and Nightwing was pacing back and forth. “ I don’t know what to do now.” said Nightwing agitated. “Our team is starting to fall apart and now the Brotherhood of Evil is back in town and now we can’t live our lives!” “Nightwing calm down!” advised Starfire. “No I can’t! I promised you we’d get to have our normal lives, but now things are getting out of hand!” Starfire got off the bed and put her hands on Nightwing’s shoulder calmly. “Listen, there is still a chance we have the normal life. After we defeat the villains, we can have our happiness. It’s ok.” Nightwing smiled and hugged her. “ Thanks, you know just what to say.” Suddenly, the alarm rang and the 2 ran out of the room.

When they got into the living quarters, Beast Boy was holding the remote, aiming it at the TV. “Beast Boy, what’s the emergency?!” asked Nightwing. His question was answered when he saw on the TV what looked like their old enemy Control Freak.
“Well hello my old friends! This is an important message from the new Brotherhood of Evil, ready to broadcast to you! And now a word from our sponsor!” Control freak stepped out of the TV frame. Then, a tall shadow slowly stepped out of the shadows. “Who are you?!” demanded Nightwing. Suddenly, the voice spoke and it sent shivers down all the titans’ spines. “Hello Robin, or should I say Nightwing?” The figure stepped out of the shadows and everyone’s jaws dropped. It was Slade. “We meet again.”

To be continued….